Severity of Damage, Accessibility Challenges Hamper NYSEG’s Power Restoration Work in the Capital Region

>> NYSEG urges customers to stay away from downed power lines – even lines that appear “dead” can be deadly. NYSEG customers should call 1.800.572.1131 to report downed power lines or other hazardous situations.

>> Emergency generators can be dangerous. Carefully read, understand and follow manufacturer’s instructions when operating an emergency generator. Never run emergency generators indoors; operate them only outdoors in well-ventilated areas and away from windows and doors.

>> Dry ice and bottled water will be available from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today at the Copake Fire Hall (390 County Route 7A, Copake) and the Ancram Fire Hall (1306 County Route 7, Ancram).

>> The next news release will be distributed at 11 a.m.

Clifton Park, NY – (March 9, 2011) Despite severe damage to its electricity delivery system in some areas and extremely hazardous working conditions, NYSEG is continuing to make progress restoring service to customers in the company’s Mechanicville Division (parts of Saratoga, Columbia, Rensselaer and Washington counties) who lost service as a result of this week’s destructive storm. NYSEG has restored service to 5,900 of the 9,000 customers who lost power. Approximately 3,100 NYSEG customers are currently without power in hard-hit Columbia and Rensselaer counties.

Because of significant new damage identified through NYSEG’s ongoing damage assessment, additional outages yesterday and continued difficulty accessing some areas, NYSEG now expects that most of its customers who are without power will have service restored today, barring unforeseen problems. The restoration times for those customers where damage to NYSEG’s electricity delivery system is most severe will be determined later today as damage assessment is completed and results are reviewed.

“We appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding as we continue our work,” said Walt Matyjas, director - electric distribution at NYSEG and RG&E. “We also owe our gratitude to the law enforcement agencies, fire departments, highway departments and local officials that continue to help us immensely. Without their support, our work would be that much more difficult.”